Manaslu and Tsum restricted area permits explained

Nepal keeps a short list of restricted areas, mostly valleys along the Tibetan border where the government wants to control how many outsiders arrive and where they go. Upper Mustang, Upper Dolpo, Nar-Phu, Humla and Kanchenjunga are on it, and so are Manaslu and Tsum. The Manaslu region opened to organised trekking groups only in the early 1990s, and the Tsum Valley not until 2008. Before that, Nubri and Tsum were known to most foreigners from a handful of expedition accounts and anthropologists' notes.

The restriction is less about secrecy now than about management. A fixed daily fee, a group minimum and a mandatory guide keep numbers lower than on the Annapurna Circuit, bring income to the government and make sure every trekker is accounted for close to a border. For the people of Nubri and Tsum, the rules have also slowed the pace of change, though roads and lodges are spreading up the Budhi Gandaki every year.

Most trekkers on the Manaslu side need three or four documents. The figures below are the rates as we understand them for foreign nationals; citizens of SAARC countries pay lower conservation area fees. Permit fees in Nepal are revised from time to time, so check current status before you travel. All fees are per person.

• Manaslu Circuit only: Manaslu restricted area permit, MCAP and ACAP.
• Tsum Valley only, returning the same way: Tsum restricted area permit and MCAP; most itineraries also need the Manaslu permit for the stretch of the main trail they use, so ask your agency.
• Manaslu and Tsum together: both restricted area permits, MCAP and ACAP.

Numbers are easier to plan with when they are real. Take two friends walking our 15-night Manaslu Circuit in October. They spend about ten days inside the Manaslu restricted area, from Jagat to the Larkya La and down to Bhimthang. The restricted area permit costs USD 100 each for the first seven days and USD 15 each for the next three, so USD 145 per person. MCAP and ACAP add NPR 6,000 together, roughly USD 45 at recent exchange rates. Their permit bill is close to USD 190 each.

Walk the same route in April and the restricted area fee falls to USD 75 plus three days at USD 10, saving about USD 40 each. Add the Tsum Valley in autumn, with about seven days inside Tsum, and the Tsum permit adds USD 40. These sums are included in our trek prices, but it helps to know them when you compare quotes: an itinerary that looks much cheaper than others may be leaving out permits, porters or the guide's insurance. Ask for a breakdown.

A restricted area permit is not something you can buy at a counter. It is issued by the Department of Immigration in Kathmandu only through a trekking agency registered in Nepal, and only for a group of at least two foreign trekkers. The group must be accompanied by a licensed trekking guide employed by that agency. The permit lists your names, passport numbers, the area and the dates, and police and conservation checkposts along the trail compare it with your passport.

Since April 2023, Nepal has also required a licensed guide for foreign trekkers in all national parks and conservation areas, but in Manaslu and Tsum that rule was already part of the restricted area system. Two trekkers on one permit are expected to walk together, and your guide is responsible for the group. In practice, if one person falls ill and turns back, the guide will arrange for the other to continue only within the rules; ask your agency how they handle it before you set off.

Your agency applies on your behalf. They usually need a clear scan of your passport, your Nepal visa or arrival details, a passport photo, your trekking dates and your insurance details. Because the permit must be covered by a valid visa for the whole period, many permits are issued after you land in Kathmandu with your visa on arrival, but agencies collect the paperwork weeks ahead and can turn the application round in a working day. Immigration offices close on Saturdays and public holidays, which matters in October, when Dashain and Tihar both fall.

Build one full day in Kathmandu before the drive to Machha Khola. It gives time for the permit, a kit check and a briefing, and it protects you from a delayed international flight. Carry your original passport on the trek; photocopies are not enough at the checkposts. Keep the permit in a waterproof bag in your daypack, not your duffel, because you will be asked for it at Jagat and again higher up the valley.

The two-trekker rule catches many solo travellers. Some agencies solve it by pairing you with another trekker on similar dates, so that you share a permit while walking at your own pace with your own guide. That is legitimate as long as both of you actually trek. Paying for a second, imaginary trekker is not, and checkposts have turned people back for it.

Other common problems are simpler. Dates that are too tight leave no margin for bad weather on the Larkya La, and an extension in the field is not straightforward, so book a day or two longer than you think you need. A passport that expires within six months of travel can cause trouble with the visa. A change of route, for example adding Tsum after you start, needs a different permit that cannot be issued on the trail.

• Book at least two trekkers on the permit, and make sure both really walk.
• Allow a spare day for weather and add it to the permit dates.
• Decide on Tsum before you leave Kathmandu.
• Carry your original passport and keep the permit dry and to hand.
• Check current status before you travel; fees and rules change.

The restricted area fee goes to the Government of Nepal. The conservation area fees go to the Manaslu and Annapurna Conservation Area projects, both managed by the National Trust for Nature Conservation, a not-for-profit body. That money supports trail repairs, community forestry, snow leopard and wildlife monitoring, waste management and local conservation committees in villages along the route.

The bigger economic benefit for Nubri and Tsum comes from what you spend on the trail: lodge rooms, meals, porters, guides and the small things like hot showers and apples bought from a doorstep. Choosing family-run lodges, paying fair wages and tipping your crew properly does more for the valley than the permit fee alone. That is the quiet bargain of a restricted area: fewer visitors, each one counting for more.